Undercover Pros: What Ryder Cup Players, Caddies And Coaches Really Think Of Each Other

I finally set aside some time for the catty backstabbing and other brutal assessments of Ryder Cuppers by those involved in the matches.

If you were an alien who just landed and knew nothing about Ryder Cup participants, you'd think after reading this that no one will break 80 in the matches.

Still, it's entertaining reading even if you come away thinking no one can putt, chip or do much of anything under pressure. You'll also find out who has the wedge yips...apparently just about everyone but Mickelson and Spieth.

John Huggan and Dave Shedloski got the folks to talk from both sides of the Atlantic for the September Golf Digest.

A sampler:

"If there is a worse lag putter in the game," said one, "I've yet to see him." Another player is known for this: "He enjoys pissing the other team off." Dealing with another opponent's gamesmanship? "You have to give it right back to him or ignore him. And if you do give it back to him, it can affect him."

The individual assessments will be of most interest if you haven't already read it between the print pages. Considering Bubba Watson has not made the first cut despite just missing the team on points, the assessment of his game and attitude seems especially pertinent.

EUROPEAN TAKES: "His head is his weakness. He talks a lot about 'energy levels.' He has to feel energized to perform. And because of his personality, he finds that difficult to do. In a Ryder Cup, where you play multiple matches in a short period and there's a lot of pressure, you can see him getting mentally fatigued quite quickly. And so his performance level drops off." ... "His driving is long but wild. So there is always the potential for him to hand a hole to his opponent. He can go out and beat you, 5 and 4, but you could do the same to him. I wonder how much fight he has in him when he's 2 down after five. Is he coming back? Probably not. He'll more than likely fold up." ... "He's easily upset, too. The crowd can get to him. He doesn't like being touched. So he has so much vulnerability."

So keep your hands to yourself. We can work with that!

AMERICAN TAKE: "If he's into it, if he loves the golf course, he isn't easy to beat, but the question is, can you get him into it? Attitude is everything with Bubba, because he has all the shots. If I'm Europe, I'm pointing out all the trouble at Hazeltine and letting Bubba chew on that."

I suppose Bubba could make a scouting trip to Hazeltine this week and declare his love for it, and really cause Captain Love a headache!

NY Post: Dick's Sporting Goods Eyeing Bankrupt Golfsmith?

Thanks to the great Lou Brown for this Josh Kosman NY Post story suggesting that Golfsmith's bankruptcy filing has hit a snag and may lead to a completely collapse of the retailer, with Dick's Sporting Goods eyeing a takeover.

Kosman writes:

Private equity investor Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System owns Golfsmith and shanked the 2012 investment by acquiring it in a $97 million leveraged buyout, which put the company in deep debt at the same time interest in golf waned.

OMERS combined Canada golf retailer Golf Town with Golfsmith, and now the company’s stores are almost evenly split between US and Canada.

“There’s just too much debt,” a source said, adding that the company would be profitable if it did not have interest payments on roughly $200 million in loans.

NFL Strikes! BMW Third Round Outrates Final Day Coverage

As NFL numbers hit 7-year lows on the first weekend, the PGA Tour's recent run of down ratings continued the cord-cutting era trend, only in more spectacular fashion.

Sports Media Watch reports that the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick drew a 1.2 final round. Without NFL competition and a weak slate of college football games, the third round actually out-drew the last day (1.3/1.9 million viewers). SMW looks back to 2012 for comparisons after last year's was a rain-delayed event. There was also this for the BMW...

Sunday’s 1.2 rating is tied as the second-lowest for final round coverage of the tournament since the FedEx Cup began in 2007.

Playoff fever! Opt-out time! Ca--chingnotsomuch.

The numbers are fascinating since conventional wisdom would suggest this could be the worst possible time for the PGA Tour to opt out of its network deal, presumably in search of more money thanks to additional bidders (ABC? FOX?).

However, that seems unlikely given that the sports rights bubble has burst. Although the numbers could set up an opt-out discussion that allows the next Commissioner to reimagine the playoff schedule timing. Maybe one that ends on Labor Day? Dan Hicks touched on this possibility on ShackHouse this week.

I still contend that trying to jam the playoffs into the post-PGA Championship, pre-NFL window will not work and that a fall finish to the season, with a restart in January gets the playoffs away from football when people are most excited about it, while also giving people a chance to catch their breath after a busy summer schedule.

ShackHouse 20: Ryder Cup, Tiger & Guest Dan Hicks

Ryder Cup fever continues on ShackHouse. Last week we had a lively chat with former PGA President Ted Bishop that is worth checking out. This week we talk with Dan Hicks of NBC Sports, anchor of the network's golf coverage since 2000.

As always, you can subscribe on iTunes and or just refresh your device subscription page.

Same deal with Soundcloud for the show, and Episode 20 is here to listen to right now!

The ShackHouse Stitcher page.

The Ringer's ShackHouse page with all of the info and links you can dream of.

ShackHouse is presented by Callaway Golf, who recently launched two new irons — the Steelhead Irons with that great signature shape and big distance, and the more-forgiving Big Bertha OS irons.

Go to CallawayGolf.com and check out the iron fitting tool.

Also, here is the link to the Haney/Redbull online series mentioned in episode 20.

We also want to thank Athletes Collective, which makes a great longsleeve for the fall, plus a sensational new V-neck for working out. They are making solid, comfortable, logo-free and incredibly low-priced athletic wear out of the latest tech fabrics. Use promo code House for 15% off your first order. Now!

And of course, the same endorsement goes for MeUndies, so work that promo code House for your first order!

Thanks for your continued support of the show and our advertisers. Ad be sure to check out the website of our hosts, The Ringer.

What Does Bubba's Ryder Cup Omission Say?

With Davis Love using his first three picks on J.B. Holmes, Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar (Steve DiMeglio's story here), it's hard to not wonder where this leaves Bubba Watson.

As the 7th ranked player and highest Ryder Cup points earner not to automatically qualify, Bubba looks headed for the sidelines in favor of a younger player with less baggage?

You voted the way I thought things would go Monday (Thank you!), with Kuchar and Holmes the easiest picks and Bubba edging Rickie.

After hearing Captain Love's comments and seeing the less-deserving Fowler already named Monday, I'd say Bubba will not be heading to Hazeltine.

From Alex Miceli's Golfweek.com story from Minneapolis where he got a sense of the room vibe (and that Jim Furyk is still very much in the hunt).

Love went on to explain that if you watched the BMW Championship on Sunday you would see he’s hitting good putts they’re just lipping out.

“His strokes gained tee to green have just been solid for a while and you saw it at Bethpage, except for that last nine, which is driving, it wasn’t putting,” Love said in support of his Fowler pick. “He’s just solid. And we’re making a team of 11 guys for this year we’re not really looking at the past.”

Oddly, Bubba Watson is ranked fifth in SG: Tee-to-Green with Fowler eighth.

Of course, Bubba could play his way on to the team because he's playing the Tour Championship while Fowler was not eligible. Perhaps Love is just waiting to let Bubba have a great week there and playing his way into the last pick in the fashion, just as the task force envisioned things. We discussed this, the Mickelson comments and the possibility of a Furyk pick today on Morning Drive.

Still, I can't get past the idea that Bubba has been ahead of Fowler all year, is statistically better in many key categories and does have a tour win in 2016, yet feels like an odd-man-out.

Perhaps Furyk is back in the picture, or maybe Love's well known affinity for Justin Thomas has him leading that way. Though if Bubba is passed up, we may be looking at one of the more historic Ryder Cup omissions of all time.

Kenyon! More On Team Europe's Putting Guru

Tim Rosaforte fills out a few details about the mysterious putting coach Phil Kenyon, recently sought out by Rory McIlroy and coach to several top players. Kenyon keeps a low profile and doesn't so much self promotion, but as Rosaforte notes, he's had a hand in helping seven members of the European Ryder Cup team.

Rosaforte writes:

Kenyon has a master’s degree in Sports Science, and his experience playing on the mini-tours in Europe gives him a good perspective on how players think. Says McIlroy: “He was more, you figure it out yourself a little bit, but this is what you need to do; this is where you need the putter to be at certain points in your stroke, and then just figure out a way to do it.”

True to form, Kenyon didn’t want to be quoted directly on his work with McIlroy, reciting only the Aristotle proverb, “One swallow does not a summer make.”

Duly noted!

America's Closest-To-Perfection Course Designs

I was asked to put the emphasis on design for this slideshow at GolfDigest.com and went a little snobbish in pursuit of highlighting perfection.

In thinking about some of America's best and pouring over rankings, restorations and thoughts of their architects, I was astounded by how many elite courses have well-documented design flaws or are living off their reputation as merely difficult-to-play. (It was also amazing to consider how many Macdonald-Raynor designs have seen restorations take them to places maybe never even imagined by their creators.)

Anyhow, here is my list of designs (with scrollable explanations in the upper right) where all of the parts are in place and presenting the kind of architecture we wish we had more to experience.

Bryson's Irons Redux: "It’s a potential paradigm shift for golf equipment."

Mike Stachura reminds us at GolfDigest.com that attention spans are short, because it wasn't that long ago golfers were witnessing Bryson DeChambeau's success wondering if same-length iron sets were around the corner.

With DeChambeau's Web.com Tour playoff win and signs that Cobra Puma Golf has a prototype that looks promising for a market debut in the "now-increasingly-imminent future," he writes:

But DeChambeau’s almost religious prophet approach to his iron-length concept is more than some quirky personal trait or party trick. It’s a potential paradigm shift for golf equipment. Is DeChambeau's win like Billy Burke’s win with steel shafts in the 1931 U.S. Open, or Jim Simons victory at the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in 1982, the first televised win for a metal wood? DeChambeau, not surprisingly, thinks it has that potential.

“I think you will see a change take place among junior golfers over this next year. I know it’s not just better for me but for all kinds of players,” he said. “I think this was an important day. Maybe we look back and say this is the day the game changed.”